Super Handyman: Tips for keeping your gutters in shape

“April showers bring ...” You know the rest. Rain can be great for growing flowers but can mess up your home’s foundation, water-log your basement and create a muddy mess in your yard if you aren’t set up properly for it. Let’s take a closer look at how it’s supposed to work.

Guttering is designed to be installed around the drip edge of your roofline to capture rain water and channel it away from your home. This is accomplished with a series of gutters and downspouts, along with some other accessories.

You should make sure to seal gutters at the edges and patch up any holes that appear. The gutters need to slant down toward the downspouts at a rate of about 1/4 inch per 8 feet. Adjust them up or down if you need to. Gutters are hung on the fascia of a house with screws, spikes or hangers. Make sure you have enough to hold the gutters securely in place. Replace any that are damaged.

Keep gutters from clogging by cleaning them out periodically. You can cover the gutters with a screen, a solid channeling cover or use some other method to keep leaves out. There even is a robot that can clean out your gutters.

Keep downspouts from clogging, too. Install leaf guards to prevent this problem. Fish out any leaves that do get stuck in there. Rain chains and other specially designed gutters eliminate the need for downspouts and might offer a solution for you.

Make sure splash blocks are in place to prevent the water coming out the bottom of the downspout from puddling around the foundation. There also are other devices designed to do the same thing, and some are rather creative. You even might consider installing a rain barrel to capture and dispense this excess water to your plants and garden.

Get more life out of that old belt by moving it to the shop

Loose-fitting shirts are the most comfortable style for us do-it-yourselfers. But what can you do with those old belts you have lying around? You can give them to charity, or use them in the garage and workshop. Old belts are great for holding loose materials together. Bind up some trim molding, pipes or even firewood. Keep garden hoses and extension cords coiled up with belts. They even can keep a stepladder from unfolding. Give them a try!

A shovel isn’t just for shoveling

It’s time to get out there and add some trees, shrubs, rocks and other items to your landscape. But lugging around big, heavy things can break your back if you are not careful. One easy way to haul some things around might be to put them on a shovel and pull the shovel. A large, smooth shovel blade will glide across the yard a lot more easily than some other things. Just get the rock or whatever on the shovel blade, and then you can pull that around to the right spot and unload it. It’s easier than getting your mate to help, and cheaper than hiring an extra hand to do the job!

Super hints

Ÿ Whenever you are working around a sink, tub, shower or anywhere else you have a drain, remember to put a towel over it or cover it up with something else to prevent small tools or hardware from falling in. This also will protect delicate finishes from damage.

Ÿ I found out through a local kitchen remodeler that granite suppliers have small pieces in their “bone yard” that they will sell at a discount because of their small size. These might be just what you need for a small bathroom or perhaps a wet bar. Check them out and see if you can do a little remodeling at a huge discount!

Ÿ A good canister vacuum is a great shop tool for cleaning wood before the final finish is put on. Most household models have a better filter than a shop vacuum, and it will get even the finest dust up and out of the way without blowing the tiny particles back into the air, where they might settle back on the surface.

Q. We are putting in an outdoor kitchen. The countertops are tile. I want to know what type of grout we should use to help them last. They will be covered by a patio roof but otherwise will be exposed. What would you suggest?

A. The tiles you use should be sealed. Use an exterior grout, which is made for use outdoors. It has a built-in sealer. You may want to reseal the grout lines again after a year or two, just for insurance. It sounds great. What time does the party start?

Q. The top two rows of ceramic tiles in my shower are starting to come loose from the wall. What can I do to glue them back down?

A. Tile adhesive should take care of it. Try to clean away the old grout and the mastic adhesive from the back of the loose tiles and the surface underneath. You can use masking tape to hold the tiles in place while the new adhesive sets up. When the adhesive has set up, refill the grout joints.

Q. Our pool deck is a gravel-and-epoxy surface that is about 15 years old. It has started to crack in some spots, and I want to know if I can fix it. What would you do?

A. If you can find some clear epoxy and some matching gravel, you can mix up your own patching material. It should be easy to spread in place to fill in the missing spots. It must be clean and dry before you apply it, or the deck will just crack again. Make sure to fill in all cracks with more epoxy to prevent further damage. Good luck.

Reader tips

Ÿ We try to use the natural breezes here in our part of the country to air out our house and keep us comfortable most of the time. We rarely use our air conditioner. We have found some small fans that fit into the windows, and have installed them and secured the windows around them. We also found some furnace filters that fit these fans, and have placed them over the fans to filter the air as it is drawn into the house. For the most part, we enjoy this much more than the old air conditioning, and are saving a bundle!

Ÿ When I was using a chisel to mortise out for some hinges on a door that I was installing, I found that it was uncomfortable in my hand, and I was afraid my hand might slip and I’d hurt myself. I devised a great new “handle” on my chisel. I slipped a plastic PVC pipe end cap over the handle, and it fit my hand much better. I now keep it in the drawer with all of my chisels, since the handles are all the same size. It’s really a great add-on.

Ÿ A word of warning about removing “popcorn” texture from ceilings. A long time ago, many builders used this material, and it was very popular. Some of it had asbestos in it, and you have to be very careful when trying to remove it from your home. Sanding it can cause it to become airborne, and you could breathe in the asbestos. The dust is very dangerous. You should wear a respirator when working with it, and make sure to remove the dust very carefully. If you aren’t sure about your skills, hire a pro to do it, just to be safe.

Ÿ I lived with cigarette stains on my fake marble bathroom countertops for years. I tried a variety of cleaners, but nothing would get the stains out. Finally I mixed peroxide and cream of tartar to make a paste, and put that over the stains and let it sit for a while. This removed a good deal of the stains. I think if I keep after them, eventually they all will come out.

Ÿ You’ll love my creative stepping stones, and they were super easy to make. I bought plain, inexpensive concrete stepping stones and got a bunch of scrap tiles from a tile store. I glued the tiles to the stepping stones with exterior tile adhesive. After that was dry, I used exterior grout to finish the areas between the tiles. That’s it. They look really cool, and I used them all over the yard.

Shop talk

Ÿ Go green, and start in your garden! If you are trying to be “green” -- and who isn’t, these days -- you might be considering starting a compost pile. This is so easy to do, and once you know the basics, you can have a steady supply of FREE plant food and mulch for your yard year-round. Mulching helps cut down on moisture loss, so less watering is required to keep your plants looking great, even through a long, hot summer. It doesn’t cost much, if anything, to get started, and is a great way to get rid of vegetable waste from your home as well as many other items destined for the garbage can. Learn how to build and manage your own compost pile with our instructions.

Ÿ Everyone knows that water and electricity don’t mix! But there are times when you find yourself in a situation where the risk is great but a job must be done. Check out Wet Circuits. This power strip is designed to go where no other power strip has been able to go before. The patented design and special protective material allow you to continue to work safely while working in snow, rain, with wet hands, in flooding and with accidental spills onsite. It can’t be completely submerged for more than two hours without stopping, but who can? The design prevents other objects from being inserted into the outlet by curious kids, so it’s safe around children, too. It’s designed not to overheat, prevents accidental sparking and is built to last about four times longer than the typical power strip. There’s even a Wet Circuits wall receptacle available. Check it out at www.wetcircuits.com.

Ÿ If you have a BigAzz job, you need some BigAzz Pliers. These pliers, made by Channellock, have a 5-1/2-inch jaw capacity and are more than 20 inches long. They have the standard Blue Comfort Grip to help you hold on for dear life, and the special undercut tongue-and-groove jaws and right-angle teeth prevent slipping. Check them out at hardware stores and home centers, and online at www.channellock.com.

Ÿ Write to Al and Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or visit the Carrells’ website at thesuperhandyman.com.

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